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Strider
'Strider '''is a warrior hired by the mayor of Bossage to rescue any survivors in the neighboring areas and towns after the return of the Enchanted Mercenary Army. He joins the Bossage Rescue Party to accomplish this. He makes his appearance in Mercenary Road. Personality Cool calm and experienced warrior. He is highly skilled in all ways of the warrior including combat, the life style, multiple skills and abilities, knowledge of the Frontier, the local politics, and negotiation. He is well traveled and spends most of his down time in bars and saloons where he can recognize even the most skilled of pit pockets. He has adorned his attire with attention getting ornaments, weapons, and equipment which allows him to get jobs very easily acting as a form of resume of his experience to all those around him. He seems to have a healthy thirst for absinthe and uses even this as a means to aid him in his profession not in just attention getting but as a weapon. He uses every known advantage he can muster against his foes and allies alike seeing them mainly as a means to bridge his own success. This is not to say he isn't a man and has no decent feeling toward others but he keeps this notion in check as it allows him to further his goals and keep him safe. With Stanza he is always looking for an edge on her and recognizes her as a strong rival despite his constant proclamations that she is of nominal skills. He uses the perceived notion against women warriors against her as he uses every other weapon at his disposal against rivals and foes. With D he does the same using the perceived notions of a Dhampir against him when he can but his usual tactics and skills seem useless against the hunter which he sees all to well and tries his best to ally himself with the hunter when ever the opportunity presents itself in response to this. Appearance He is the embodiment of a high class warrior. His voice sounded like iron on steel. A navy blue cape over a wine red vest, lavishly embroidered with silver and gold thread. His slacks where gold colored In addition to a gold-handled dagger and some throwing knives, the heavily detailed combat belt around his waist also held a pair of bejeweled revolvers that looked more like works of art than practical weapons. That wasn't to say he had lousy taste: it was the sort of style any warrior on the Frontier might wear to get people’s notice. Wearing this kind of outfit to get work was rather dignified compared to the warriors who put on a real act, going down the main street every time they came into a new town, gunning birds and flying beasties out of the sky with a pair of pistols, finding the town or village lowlife so they could pick a fight with him and kill him, then waiting for a big job to land in their lap—usually acting as a bodyguard or killing someone. Biography Strider is a wondering warrior on the Frontier. He seems to be of extensive experience and acts much more dignified than the average warrior. When he first makes his appearance he is involved with a negotiation for his services with the Mayor of Bossage. He along with Stanza after the negotiation elect to press them for more money when the mayor gives them an under cutting price in comparison to what they would have them do for the work.This goes south when D arrives in town and accepts the job leaving them under cut even further in negotiations. Despite this the pair sign on and join D, refusing to let his proclamation that they would only be in the way discourage them, forming the Bossage Rescue Party later on. D leaves early going on a mission with Beatrice Gilbey leaving left hand to use his mimic voice ability to keep the mayor occupied listening with his hidden devices left in D's room. After he returns he tears through the town heading out where he is attacked by the army. A battle takes place where D tears through tanks with his bare hands, fends off multiple types of projectiles such as missiles, fire bombs, darts and Fog of Misdirection. The latter of which left hand sucks up and uses against their foes. Strider and stanza show up in a Combat Jeep destroying one of the attacking armored vehicles of the Enchanted Mercenary Army. They complain about being left behind which is cut short by more attacks. Blown free from the jeep he can only watch dumbfounded as D uses the missile launcher on the jeep firing manually which is usually impossible to do due to speed in an instant firing 20 missiles at once destroying all the attacking army, and the factory which held more of the army inside. A woman in an armored car during the battle who was escaping gets caught up in one of the blasts having the Motor Car she was driving flip over on its side. Pulling out from under the car he asks if she is ok. She says her name is Irene Slocum.After some discussion and disagreement on whether they are working together they get D to accept them forming the group. With this D agrees to allow them to have the information this woman, who is actually one of the survivors they have been commissioned to rescue, to give her account and vital intel on the army. She tells of how her father the Mayor of the village was making his normal daily rounds and came upon the approaching revived Army. He immediately calls for help and tries to evacuate as many as he can before they can reach the area. She was left behind by her family. She gives them intel on the army that she knows. The group decides to take her with them to Grand Duke Dorleac's castle as survivors have fled there where it is safe from the troops. As they are about to head out they are bombarded with fire bombs, the rest escape the Bunker she led them to via a secret passage that actually doubles for an ancient dwelling of the Rancor Ancient Race. Irene is possessed by the entity known as Rancor. This entity uses her body to speak to them telepathically and then to link their minds in a psychic bond. She tells them of this entity and the history of the ancient race. They are interrupted by an attack by the Enchanted Army where Stanza and Strider are both shot brining them out of their trance. Stanza in particular is critically injured. The mercenaries are then destroyed by D who proceeds to knock out Irene with some supernatural strike. He carries off the pair with Strider following behind. Revives Irene who has been dispelled of her possession. After some protest of D to leave Stanza which seems to be a psychological manipulation to form a team like cohesion in the group, where Irene and Strider watch on as Left Hand heals Stanza with D tearing open her garments exposing her naked form pulling the bullet out with his bare hands. She heals completely with out a scar even being left from the incident. Left Hand muses about the situation with Rancor and it calming down a bit but still ready to find the best moment to lash out and destroy them all. They run into the Four Outlaws. This leads to the sleeper possessing Zenon to surface who seeks to challenge D when negotiations go south for D to join up with them to fight the supernatural soldiers. During the fight D's blade breaks and the group is then attacked by the soldiers again. D uses a pole as a weapon after breaking of the spear head to devastating affect in a brutal destruction of this round of attack. Strider is walked in on by D after ward who had been fending off his compatriots now covered in blood. After some discussion of what to do next they are attacked by another round. This round is taken out by Beatrice Gilbey. They load the injured Stanza onto the air balloon with Strider driving while D and Beatrice take the ground meeting up with them at a refuge. D replaces his sword while Stanza questions Mr. Gilbey. This leads to the warrior making a pass at her which ends with a smack on his cheek that leaves quite the mark. Strider is left behind along with Stanza to rest while D, Zenon, and Beatrice head out to recover Irene who has been captured. Strider and Stanza's moral is low due to feeling like baggage in the struggle. Before dawn, Strider had gotten worried about the long absence of D and the other two. Saying he was damned if he’d let them leave him behind, the warrior had set out to catch up with them. Though Stanza had pointed out that it was hopeless without some form of transportation, this only added fuel to the fire. Strider had stormed out, saying he’d find something soon enough. But he hadn't come back. If there were no further word from him, Stanza had intended to stay inside. But after about an hour had passed, there was a knock at the shelter’s door, and a sad masculine voice drifted through the intercom. Though she couldn't be sure it was Strider’s, she also couldn't ignore it. When she called out and there was no response, Stanza got to her feet. Gathering her weapons, she opened the door. At that moment, she lost consciousness. She figured it was gas. The pair are seen taken hostage by D and Beatrice as they just finished a battle with them and their captures flying over head to the Castle. D and Beatrice decide to go rescue them making it to the castle after meeting the Grand Duke in route. D asks where are the people who took refuge there, and the Duke responds they should be fine enough some where in the castle. Where he isn't sure. After a short battle they arrive there only to find they have all been slaughtered mercilessly. Continuing on they find the pair just after D senses a certain great power of which he is familiar. The power belonged to the Sacred Ancestor. D finds Irene who gives the account of what happened to her: Strange soldiers had carried the girl to a subterranean chamber, and a man who identified himself as Grand Duke Dorleac’s son Drago had just kissed her when Zenon came charging in. His showdown with the Nobleman had ended in a draw. There was a high-speed transport system underground, and Zenon and Irene had gotten into one of the cars and ridden it to the end of the line. Within the castle, they’d been attacked by insectlike sentry robots and Zenon had been wounded once again, so the girl had left him to go in search of medicine. Her account was quickly concluded. Stanza and Strider no where to be found had vanished when the great presence was felt. Later after some battle D finds Stanza and Strider. Strider fights the Duke head on getting blasted with heat but now due to being possessed by the great one's power gets up with out much effort and continues after him. D is left with Stanza who challenges him thinking she too is just as powerful as D due to having been given this power. But she finds she still is no match and pays the price with her life. Strider later on is seen after the great lords, father and son, have been slain. He helps D and Beatrice get the children out who have been caught in the struggle. Once they reach a remote flying machine that has a limited amount to seat to it, a pilot also with the group attempts to make it a priority he go, which is negated by the fact it is an automated flying machine operated by an advanced AI. The Pilot presses to make it clear he is going before all others threatening them with an Automatic Handgun. Strider takes care of him quickly with a nerve strike, and they decided to let him handle it from there. Strider survives the events saving the last of the survivors taking them back home while D and Beatrice takes care of the rest of the army. Powers and Abilities '''Strider is a top notch warrior. Highly skilled in many forms of combat including assassination, stealth, weapons of all types, and military tactics/skills. He apparently knows some special trick to ignite absinthe and use it as a flame thrower by spitting pale blue flames from his mouth. He develops a psychic bond and telepathic abilities when temporarily put under the power of Rancor but snaps out of the trance he was put under when shot. ' Bestowed Power From Sacred Ancestor- He later receives power from the Sacred Ancestor that allows him to fight evenly with D temporarily. Transportation Combat Jeep- a loaner from the town of Bossage. It's heavily armed having missile launchers, heavy armor piercing guns, dynamite, and other high grade military equipment and weapons. Paraphernalia First Aid Kit- A first aid kit he keeps on him at all times. Uses it to patch himself of from being shot by the mercenaries, although D doesn't give him time enough to remove the bullet from his body before heading out. Combat Belt Throwing Knives- He carries around throwing knives. Revolvers- bejeweled revolvers (that look more like works of art then practical weapons) in his combat belt. Dagger- Blade with a handle of gold. Longsword- he carries a long sword at the back which measures six feet in length. Absinthe Dynamite- Old fashioned explosives found in the combat jeep. Category:Males Category:Warrior Category:Characters Category:Mercenary Category:Human